Summary of Zhang v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct., 120 Nev. Adv. Rep. 104

On February 1, 2004, Lanlin Zhang contracted to buy former realtor Frank Sorichetti’s Las Vegas home for $532,500. On February 3, 2004 Sorichetti told Zhang that he was terminating the sale “to stay in the home a little longer.” Sorichetti then stated that he would sell Zhang the home if she paid more money. Zhang agreed and another contract was drafted that same day reciting a sales price of$578,000. On February 16, 2004, Sorichetti notified Zhang that a murder had occurred in the home several years earlier, and that Zhang could cancel the sales contract if she desired. Subsequently, Sorichetti rescinded the second sales contract “to use and/or dispose of my home as I wish,” Zhang sued seeking damages, declaratory relief and specific performance of the original contract. Zhang also recorded a lis pendens against the property to prevent Sorichetti from disposing of it before the conclusion of the case. Sorichetti countered Zhang’s complaint with a NRPC 12(b)(5) motion for dismissal for failure to state a claim reasoning that the parties had replaced the original contract with the February 3 contract by novation.2 The district court ruled in favor of Sorichetti and dismissed Zhang’s complaint despite Zhang’s unsuccessful attempt to amend her complaint to seek performance on the February 3 sales contract. The court also expunged her lis pendens on the property but stayed the order temporarily to allow Zhang to seek relief Zhang subsequently filed a writ of mandamus compelling the district court to reinstate her complaint, vacate the expungement order, and grant leave to amend the complaint. The court then held that Zhang was entitled to her writ of mandamus since the district court manifestly abused its discretion in dismissing her complaint, and reinstated the complaint as to the original sales contract under the contractual doctrine, the preexisting duty rule

Study of multiple reserve electrochemical power sources Final report

High energy density electrolytic cell systems for multiple reserve electrochemical spacecraft power supplie

The design and implementation of a multi-agent architecture to increase coordination efficiency in multi-AUV operations

This research addresses the problem of coordinating multiple autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operations. An intelligent mission executive has been created that uses multi-agent technology to control and coordinate multiple AUVs in communication deficient environments. By incorporating real time vehicle prediction, blackboardbased hierarchical mission plans and mission optimisation in conjunction with a simple broadcast communication system this system aims to handle the limitations inherent in underwater operations and intelligently control multiple vehicles. In this research efficiency is evaluated and then compared to the current state of the art in multiple AUV control. The research is then validated in real AUV coordination trials. Results will show that compared to the state of the art the control system developed and implemented in this research coordinates multiple vehicles more efficiently and is able to function in a range of poor communication environments. These findings are supported by in water validation trials with heterogeneous AUVs. This thesis will first present an in depth state of the art of the related research topics including multi-agent systems, collaborative robotics and autonomous underwater vehicles. The development and functionality of this research will then be explained followed by a detailed description of the experiments. Results are then presented both for the simulated and real world trials followed by a discussion of the findings

Myth and myth-making in James Branch Cabell\u27s Jurgen : a comedy of justice

Criticism extant on myth in Cabell\u27s Jurgen has focused largely either on the presence of specific mythos in the text, or on the universal application of those myths to the modern world via the cultural-anthropological methods first described in Sir James Frazer\u27s The Golden Bough. The common thread in such criticism is that myth is always perceived as an authoritative structure for the transmission of the author\u27s themes. This thesis proposes, however, that the satirical tone and self-conscious allegory of Jurgen systematically combine to strip myth of all authority, placing it in a role which conceals, rather than transmits, meaning. Additionally, Jurgen reveals an understanding of the myth-making process as inherently deceptive and at odds with the traditional Frazerian understanding

Summary of Diaz v. Ferne, 120 Nev. Adv. Op. 12

Appeal from a permanent injunction issued by the Fifth Judicial District Court of Nevada barring a family from installing a manufactured home on their lot in a subdivision in Pahrump, Nevada

Towards the improvement of self-service systems via emotional virtual agents

Affective computing and emotional agents have been found to have a positive effect on human-computer interactions. In order to develop an acceptable emotional agent for use in a self-service interaction, two stages of research were identified and carried out; the first to determine which facial expressions are present in such an interaction and the second to determine which emotional agent behaviours are perceived as appropriate during a problematic self-service shopping task. In the first stage, facial expressions associated with negative affect were found to occur during self-service shopping interactions, indicating that facial expression detection is suitable for detecting negative affective states during self-service interactions. In the second stage, user perceptions of the emotional facial expressions displayed by an emotional agent during a problematic self-service interaction were gathered. Overall, the expression of disgust was found to be perceived as inappropriate while emotionally neutral behaviour was perceived as appropriate, however gender differences suggested that females perceived surprise as inappropriate. Results suggest that agents should change their behaviour and appearance based on user characteristics such as gender

Building the Organizational Leader Brand: Change Agent, Scholar, Thought Leader

Who we are matters. Developing the personal brand communicates to the world the values that fuel daily leadership habits and practices. Exposure to branding is constant in everyday life. People are continuously exposed to various brands, including clothing, vehicles, food selection, recreation, and media. Building the organizational leader brand requires the same processes, strategies, and tactics as branding and promoting traditional products, yet is much more involved. Research supports that millennial audiences connect best with individuals, rather than organizations. Consequently, effective personal branding is essential to building trust and a reputation that supports such viable relationships within organizations. Successful brands are constructed to embody traits the target market or followers identify with, and thus develop an affinity to. Likewise, organizational leadership brands must incorporate the personal traits of the leader into its identity making them unique, compelling and approachable to stakeholders